DmC Devil May Cry Review

Date: 1/21/2013

By Kevin "Berserker" Hall

Player(s): 1
Extra Features: Leaderboards, Download Content

DmC: Devil May Cry is a hack and slash beat'em up game developed by Ninja Theory
and published by Capcom. This reboot of Devil May Cry is separate from the
original series and takes place in an alternate reality separate from the first
four installments of the series. The main characters of the game still retain
the same names as in previous installments but just about everything else in the
game has been redone.

DmC starts out with Dante awakening from a hangover. He starts out in Limbo City
and is chased by a hunter demon. While being chased, he runs into a girl named
"Kat", who helps him confront the demon and takes him to meet the leader of "The
Order". The Order is an organization that is fighting against the demon army.
Vergil is the leader of The Order and he tries to persuade Dante to help him
fight against Mundus' army of demons that have enslaved mankind.

I must admit, with all the changes, I was very skeptical while first starting up
DmC, but I am very satisfied with this reboot of the series overall. The
characters are much better than in previous installments of Devil May Cry. The
characters in DmC act more human and life-like. The dialogue is much better and
the one-liners are kept to a minimum. Dante is now a black-haired young man that
enjoys partying and demon slaying and Vergil is a technical leader that is
recruiting an army to stand against the demon threat.

The main heart of a Devil May Cry game lies in the combat and DmC is no
exception to deep combat. The style changes that Dante had in DMC3 and DMC4 are
now gone, but he gets to wield a variety of new weapons this time. He starts
with his standard Rebellion sword, but also gets access to a scythe, battle axe,
blade boomerangs and gauntlets. For guns, Dante starts with his usual Ebony &
Ivory handguns and receives a shotgun and a demon gun as the game progresses. In
past DMCs, I always felt like there was one weapon that was nearly useless
unless a large amount of time was dedicated to mastering that weapon, but in DmC,
all of Dante's weapons are useful and easy to use. Each weapon has its own
strengths and weaknesses and I constantly found myself cycling through them all
during gameplay. Angelic weapons are good for range and crowds and demon weapons
are good for focusing heavy damage on single enemies.

It's very easy to cycle through weapons during combat in DmC thanks to the new
way to equip weapons. Melee weapons can be equipped by holding either one of the
shoulder buttons. The left shoulder button is for angelic weapons and the right
shoulder button is for demonic weapons. A player can cycle between the two
different weapons of each type by using the left and right directions on the
d-pad. The default melee weapon is Rebellion but a player can hold the shoulder
buttons and tap the melee buttons to perform attacks with other weapons. This
setup makes it so much easier to use different weapons during any type of combo.
In past DMC games, it was much harder to switch between weapons during combat,
but in DmC, it's so very easy.

Dante is similar to playing, the simplistic yet flashy, Nero in DMC4, only
without the exceed system that Nero had. Dante is a bit more simplistic when
compared to DMC3 and DMC4, but I really feel this works out for the better. In
DMC4, Dante was so complicated that I enjoyed Nero a lot more than him. It's so
easy to be flashy in DmC thanks to the setup and the overall ease of combat that
the game has to offer. Points are gained throughout each chapter for chaining
several different melee attacks while fighting off enemies and style rank is
awarded based on the attacks like in previous games.

A player can use red orbs in between stages to buy new items and use skill
points to buy new techniques for Dante's weapons. A player can try out a
technique in the game's training mode before buying it. Techniques that have
been bought can be returned to gain the skill point for buying them back. Dante
still has many returning moves from past DMCs, but there are quite a few new
ones to learn as well. Rebellion is the main weapon that has moves borrowed from
other DMCs, which is understandable.

Dante also gains two types of grapples from his main angelic and demonic
weapons. These are similar to Nero's grapple with his Devil Bringer in DMC4, but
the grappling in DmC is more in depth. Angelic grapple brings Dante closer to
his target and demonic grapple brings the target closer to Dante. The grapples
can be used during combat and they are also used often during platforming areas.
DmC has a good deal of platforming areas that are very fun to play. The game
offers a good variety of platforming to break up the monotony of constant
battles. There is much eye candy in the platforming, such as Dante jumping along
falling platforms or Dante yanking a platform out of a wall and closer to him.

A Devil May Cry wouldn't be complete without large-scale boss fights and DmC
does not disappoint in that area. The game offers quite a few bosses that have
multiple phases that Dante will have to fight through. Many of the bosses have
patterns that you can learn and greatly exploit. The patterns to DmC's bosses
seem much easier when compared to prior DMC games. The only real exception is
the very final boss. The final boss puts up a very good fight and is not near as
much of a pushover as the bosses that Dante fought throughout the rest of the
game.

All of the stages take place in Limbo. The design for Limbo looks fantastic. The
surroundings are all bright and surreal. Backgrounds constantly change while
Dante runs through them. Floors might suddenly extend or a path might quickly
seal off while Dante follows an alley. Words constantly appear in the background
as Dante makes his way through a stage. Words such as "Obesity" and "Kill Her"
and many other sinful phrases pop up constantly throughout the game.

The voice acting in DmC is very well done. All characters have their own unique
voice that fits each one well. Dante is quick to cuss and so are many other
characters, but it all fits in with the game's overall style and never goes
overboard. The music for DmC is composed of mainly hard rock music from certain
bands. There is also one techno track for a certain stage. The music is not as
memorable as previous installments in the DMC series, but it works well to set
the grungy mood in this reboot.

The game offers several difficulties like the usual Devil May Cry. There is a
"Devil May Cry" difficulty that has sub difficulties of Human, Devil Hunter and
Nephilim. There is a Son of Sparda difficulty and a Dante Must Die difficulty
each with their own unique enemy setups. "Heaven and Hell" and "Hell and Hell"
once again return from DMC4. DmC has altogether seven difficulties for the main
game. The normal enemies in stages can offer a great challenge in the higher
difficulties and, as already mentioned, enemy setups will change depending on
the difficulty chosen - harder enemies will appear sooner. A flaw that I found
with all difficulties is that the majority of the bosses are so very easy on all
difficulties. Once you know a boss pattern, you can completely mutilate that
boss in any difficulty since the bosses never change their attack patterns.

In DmC there are no other modes besides training and campaign mode. There is no
Bloody Palace mode on the disc - it will be available as DLC, but I really feel
it should be on the disc. Dante has no taunt during gameplay like the Dante from
DMC3 and DMC4. The taunt was only used to raise style, but there was nothing
better than laying out a sarcastic taunt while kicking ass in previous games.
The game has no lock-on button like in previous games - Dante will automatically
lock-on to the enemy that he is facing. Targeting can still be changed by
pressing in on a thumbstick, but a player can't manually lock-on and move around
a target like in previous games. The framerate for DmC doesn't feel as smooth as
in previous, but it's still smooth enough. There is some very slight button
response delay when tapping a button unlike in previous DMC games also, but this
really isn't that noticeable once you get adjusted to it.

For a reboot of a distinguished action series, I found DmC extremely satisfying.
The game has a few kinks that could be worked out for a sequel, but overall, I
am really liking the new style of Devil May Cry from the overall look and the
easier controls for gameplay. The story and overall dialogue is much better in
DmC when compared to previous DMCs. I actually watched through all cutscenes
once again on my second time through instead of just picking out certain ones.
There is much replay value in the game with all its levels of difficulty and
hidden items to find and there is some DLC on the way to make the overall game
even more appealing.

The Good:
+ More in-depth story and characters
+ Many new weapons and a few returning weapons
+ Control setup makes combat easier
+ Platforming is much more fun than in previous games
+ Much replay for the campaign with the numerous difficulties (seven)

The Bad:
- Taunts were removed from gameplay!
- Bosses are easy (even on higher difficulties)
- No lock-on button

Final Rating: 85%. DmC: Devil May Cry shows the story of Dante from an alternate perspective and it does so very stylishly.